Kimberly Potts - The Way We All Became The Brady Bunch: How the Canceled Sitcom Became the Beloved Pop Culture Icon We Are Still Talking About Today

When Vince Gilligan decided to set the penultimate episode of The X-Files inside the Brady Bunch house, his shows cast, crew, writers, and producers were excited. Given the storytellers attention to detail, his cohorts knew the setting needed to look exactly like the real thing. When the real thing wasnt availablethe owner of the Los Angeles split-level that was used for the exterior of the Brady home in the 196974 ABC comedy didnt want the hassle of accommodating the productionGilligan did the next-best thing. The future Emmy-winning creator of New Golden Age of Television classics Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul reworked the episode, titled Sunshine Days, to focus on the equally iconic interior of the Brady family homestead, and tasked the X-Files production team with re-creating it meticulously.

That weird horse statue that sat on a credenza near the living room staircase? Check. The vase Peter broke when he ignored Carol Bradys rule to not play ball in the house? Check, even though the props department had to grab some clay and fashion a knockoff guided by photo stills they captured while watching videotapes of the episode when an exact replica could not be found. The staircase itself, the living room doorway that led into Mike Bradys home office, the attic bedroom where Greg hung his groovy beaded curtain after sister Marcia magnanimously let him claim the space and be the only Brady kid to enjoy the privacy of a solo bedroom? Check, check, and check. Gilligan and company had pulled off this spectacular rebuild of the TV home, and theyd done it with an assist directly from the Brady universe.

Sunshine Days wouldnt have been possible without getting the permission of Brady Bunch creator and copyright owner Sherwood Schwartz, who also created Gilligans Island. The coincidence of a man named Gilligan now readying to pay homage to his other classic sitcom both surprised and tickled Schwartz.

I think Sherwood wanted to get on the phone with me and see if I sounded like a complete yahoo or if I sounded like I was going to be making fun of his show, Gilligan remembered. I got on the phone with him, and I told him how much I enjoyed [The Brady Bunch] growing up.

The really interesting thing about the conversation was the minute I got on the phone with him, his first words to me were, Is that seriously your last name? I said to him, Mr. Schwartzactually, yes, my real name is Gilligan, and I think you owe me some residual money for using my familys name. He said, Haha, no, I dont think so. We had a very nice conversation. He had a good sense of humor, and it was really cool that I got to talk to him. I wish I had met him in person.

Schwartz not only gave his thumbs-up to the Brady-themed story, but he lent the X-Files team the blueprints his production had used to create the original interior set for the Brady home. He, his son (and Brady producer) Lloyd, and his daughter (and Brady guest star) Hope also visited the X-Files set and posed for photos on Brady living room staircase 2.0.

Gilligan soon found out the Schwartzes were not the only ones excited about the retro TV homes reconstruction. News of the new set had traveled throughout Los Angeless television community, and Gilligan and series star Gillian Anderson were among the X-Files staff who received calls from executives at Warner Bros., Fox, and Sony, as well as friends and family, all calling in favors to wrangle invitations to visit the set.

They showed up from all over town. They came out of the woodwork, because they wanted the photo, Gilligan said. Its not that they were big X-Files fansthey wanted their photo taken on the staircase of the Brady Bunch set, and this was, of course, before smartphones with cameras built in. People were showing up with their film cameras and snapping pictures of their loved ones on the Brady Bunch staircase, and that was, for a couple of weeks there, a really big deal. That was a hot ticket in Los Angeles.

What was it about getting the chance to see that living room, that weird horse statue, that bright orange kitchen, live and in person, that had everyone from actors and camera operators to executives who make daily multimillion-dollar decisions about their own TV showsand even the Brady Bunch creator himselfgiddy about a series that was, at that point, more than thirty years old?

Why, now fifty years later, do thousands of Brady devotees still travel to 11222 Dilling Street in Los Angeles each year just to get a look at that Studio City split-level, which, because it provided the exterior shots for the Brady hacienda for all five seasons of the show, is now the second most-photographed house in America (after the White House)?

To deconstruct the appeal of the Brady Bunch home, and every other iconic symbol of Sherwood Schwartzs seminal family comedy, is to deconstruct the enduring status of The Brady Bunch as a cultural touchstone.

In July 2018, newspapers and websites around the world rushed to report a big event in Bradyworld. If you happened to have a spare $1.9 million lying around and wanted to own the house on Dilling Street, you might be in luck. Boy band alum Lance Bass from 'N Sync, Disney star turned pop diva Miley Cyrus, and Property Brothers star Jonathan Scott were among the most famous names bidding for the privilege of owning the two-bedroom, three-bathroom, shag-carpeted domicile. Im obviously obsessed with The Brady Bunch. I mean, I grew up watching that show. Reruns! Bass said. I want to buy this house.

In August 2018, a surprise bidder emerged as the new owner of the Brady home: HGTV. The cable network paid more than $3 million for the property, and immediately began construction to expand the house, revamp the interior to match the look of the television-show interior set, and document the whole process for a TV series.